[COFF] AI and spin locks

[Warner Losh]

On Thu, Nov 28, 2024, 11:11 AM Edouard Klein <edouardklein at gmail.com> wrote:

> So, I ran the following experiment:
>
> I downloaded the last month of email from the archive, and split them
> into one email per file using a quick and dirty state machine script in
> python looking an empty line followed by two lines starting with "From"
> in order to know where to split.
>
> I then uploaded the files into https://openwebui.com/ built-in RAG
> system.
> The vectorization model is nvidia/NV-Embed-v2, and the LLM is
>
> https://huggingface.co/bartowski/gemma-2-27b-it-GGUF/blob/main/gemma-2-27b-it-Q8_0.gguf
>
> I then put the following very vague query, but which I knew was relevent
> to last month's discussion:
>
> What has changed in the C language in the last few decades ?
>
> I copied the response at the end of the email. It seems quite good to
> me, but it may get worse when the whole archive is uploaded.
>
> I think this proof of concept shows that there could be value in doing
> the whole list, with a cleaner email extraction a few tweaks to the
> system prompt.
>
> I can't do it now because I have a few deadlines coming soon (not the
> least of which is the International Workshop on Plan 9
> https://iwp9.org/ SEND YOUR PAPERS, PEOPLE !), but I would like to
> tackle that in the near future.
>
> Hosting this require significant but not overly expansive hardware (from
> 1 to few k€), if a university lab or a generous patron wants to see it
> done and make it available to the public, please contact me :)
>
> Otherwise llamafile (https://github.com/Mozilla-Ocho/llamafile  justine
> single-handedly restored my faith in Mozilla) could be used to
> distribute a file that would contain the model+the emails+the vector
> database in a single huge file that can run anywhere.
>
> Exciting times !
>
>
> Here is the LLM answer:
>
> Based on the provided context, it appears that the C language has
> undergone significant changes over the last few decades. Here are some
> key changes mentioned:
>
>     Standardization and Formalization : The C language has become more
>     formalized and standardized, with the introduction of new standards
>     (e.g., C89, C99, C23). This has led to a more rigid and legalistic
>     approach to the language, which some users find less useful.
>
>     Changes to realloc function : The behavior of the realloc function
>     has changed over time. In the first ANSI C standard, realloc(0, ptr)
>     was well-defined when ptr was not nil. However, this behavior was
>     changed in C99, and now, in C23, realloc(0, ptr) is undefined
>     behavior (UB) regardless of the value of ptr.
>
>     Strict Aliasing : The introduction of strict aliasing rules has led
>     to compilers assuming that pointers to incompatible types always
>     point to different non-overlapping locations. This has caused issues
>     for some programmers.
>
>     Additional Features and Functions : The C language has gained new
>     features and functions over the years, such as stdint.h (introduced
>     in C89), which provides integer types with specific widths.
>
>     Evolution of Language Principles : The language has evolved with no
>     appreciation or understanding of the aesthetic and practical
>     principles of the original language effort, leading to a more
>     verbose and less concise language.
>
>
> These changes reflect the C language's growth and adaptation to new
> requirements and use cases over the decades. However, some users, like
> the ones in the provided context, feel that these changes have made the
> language less useful and more complicated.
>

Now you kids get off my damn lawn!

But it is a fairly accurate summary.

Warner

Warner

Warren Toomey via COFF <coff at tuhs.org> writes:
>
> > I was just trying to find out if there was a way of uploading the TUHS
> > mailing list as a corpus of text into a LLM so that I could ask questions
> > based on the knowledge contained therein. I'm not having much luck yet.
> >
> > Anyway, while messing around with things I asked a simple question and
> got
> > this answer:
> >
> > What is a spin lock?
> >
> >   A spin lock, also known as a spinning lock or spinning lock mechanism,
> is
> >   a type of mechanical locking device used to secure and protect
> sensitive
> >   electronic components, such as microprocessors, memory chips, and other
> >   high-value devices.
> >
> >   Here's how it worked: when a CPU instruction was executed and the
> >   necessary data was stored in registers, the CPU would "lock" the
> registers
> >   by spinning them around to prevent other instructions from accessing
> them.
> >
> > Those poor registers must get dizzy with all the spinning that they
> > have to endure :-)
> >
> > Cheers, Warren
> >
> > P.S. If anybody has ideas on how to usefully import the TUHS mailing list
> > into a LLM, let me/us know.
>
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